And I'm back! Back to fill the gaping void this story leaves inside me. I had originally meant to update three days ago on my birthday, but stuff I had procrastinated on caught back up to me.

New title, new summary, new chapters, new characters. It doesn't get much newer than this.

This was originally one chapter but got way too long. So I split it into two. They were kinda hard to write. Mostly because of the lack of card games.

And for anyone who is interested or who cares, Midnightscreamer pointed out that my prologue was mislabeled, so I scrapped the author's note for an actual prologue. Hopefully it's acceptable.

Disclaimer: Still don't own Yu-Gi-Oh!

Chapter 3: The Academy

From the moment he first saw Duel Academy, Ryan knew he would love it here.

Of course, the trip to the Academy was a little hectic, what with all the people who had come up to him today, congratulating him on his victory over Crowler, asking him for dueling advice, or just saying how awesome they thought he was. And not just from his fellow freshmen, but from other upper-classmen too. It was nice at first, but it got old real fast. He wasn't looking forward to the trip to the school.

As he boarded the helicopter, he immediately took a window seat so he could see everything. As other people boarded, he tried to make himself look as inconspicuous as possible, slouching down and looking out the window. It almost worked too. As the last people were getting on and nobody had taken the seat, he breathed a sigh of relief. As he did, a body slid into the seat.

"Alright, made it!" the new boy beside him cheered. Ryan sighed quietly. Hopefully he wouldn't pay much attention to-

"Hey, aren't you that kid who beat Crowler?" the boy asked suddenly as he peered at the Ryan. Some god had it out for him, he just knew it. Ryan groaned as he fully looked his seatmate. He had a white jacket with red edges and curly black hair. Ryan was surprised the most by how young this kid looked; it didn't look like this kid had his growth spurt yet.

"Yeah," Ryan answered, dreading what came next. "I thought so! Dude, the way you just came back from the edge of defeat… that was so cool! I mean, your little draw thing was a little unnecessary, but still! You must be really good to be able to pull a win from a situation like that."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa there! My Shining Draw is unnecessary? Why would you say something like that?"

The kid blinked at him. "Well, like Crowler said, nothing happened. You just drew. It got everyone excited and all, but was really just overly dramatic. Kind of like Crowler's clothes. Wait, what was your name again?"

In the middle of his answer, Ryan pulled out his quarter from his back pocket and began to absent-mindedly twirl it through his fingers. Was his Shining Draw really nothing? He decided to think on it later. "Ryan Anderson. And you?"

"Nick Wilson, the best Duelist to ever come out of prep school! Look out Duel Academy, here I come!" Ryan shook his head, smiling softly at Nick's enthusiasm.

"Oh yeah!" Nick exclaimed before leaning towards Ryan confidentially. "Did you know you had a Duel Spirit?" he whispered.

Ryan just looked at him. "No, I just love to talk to the air pretending it's a card that other people can't see!" he whispered back, words dripping with sarcasm.

Nick shrugged before whispering, "Just wanted to make sure. I have one too." He looked through the deck box on his hip and pulled out a card. "See?"

"Why are we whispering?" Ryan asked. Nick just shrugged again. Ryan looked at the card. It was a Masked Knight LV 3. He looked back up and saw the spirit standing next to Nick. The warrior gave a little salute before vanishing.

Nick looked a Ryan for a long moment while putting the card away before saying, "I get the feeling that you don't quite understand the magnitude of what you did. Do you know just how many people I've heard of that have beaten Crowler before?"

"Enlighten me."

"Just one. He transferred into the Academy about halfway through his first year. Crowler had this whole episode about it being irregular and demanded that he Duel him. Crowler lost, but the dude was put into Slifer Red 'cause Crowler didn't like him. He was the best Duelist in the school, too, but he never moved outta Red, can you believe it? Not one in three-and-a-half years. He graduated a couple years ago and is competing in the Pro Leagues now. You heard of Jaden Yuki?"

Had he? Everyone had heard of Jaden Yuki. Said to be the best Duelist of his generation, he immediately had attracted large companies offering to sponsor him in the Pros, including the Kaiba Corporation. However, he had turned them all down to accept a small company's offer. When asked why, he reportedly said that he just trusted his gut and his gut told him to sign with that company. To think that he had done something that nobody but Jaden Yuki had done…

The helicopter blades started to turn and they slowly lifted into the air. The intercom crackled to life. "This is your captain speaking. I would like to inform you all that we are on our way to Academy Island." The students all cheered as the helicopter started flying.

Ryan gazed out the window looking down at the ocean. Nick and most of the other students had started sleeping early into the journey, but Ryan could never sleep in a helicopter. Or a plane. Or a car. Or basically anything that moved while he tried to sleep. A spot of color caught his eye. Could that be…?

The intercom suddenly rang out as the pilot spoke, waking everyone up. "Attention, new Duel Academy students. If you look outside your windows, you'll see your new home away from home."

"Cool!" most people, including Nick, shouted, as they leaned over towards the nearest window to see.

The pilot spoke again. "Now now, I know you're excited, but don't shove. Quite a sight, ey?"

And it was. There was a forest covering the front half of the island except for the building in the middle and there was a large smoking volcano on the back half.

Ryan really hoped that the volcano was dormant. Otherwise, it looked awesome. He knew he'd love it. Unless that volcano erupted.

"Now then, fasten your seat belts and sit your seats back to an upright position. We're going in to land. Next stop, Academy Island." This time, everyone cheered, including Ryan.

When they disembarked the helicopter, they were immediately ushered into the large building. There, they were formed into lines where they would receive all their gear that pertained to the dorm they were in. In the general chaos, Ryan lost track of Nick.

Eventually, Ryan got to the desk. "Name?" the perky woman behind the desk asked. Her nametag read Miss Dorothy.

"Ryan Anderson," he replied. "So you're the kid who beat Dr. Crowler, hmm?" Oh no, not her too… Ryan groaned internally. "I must say, that takes skill. Normally, that means you'd get directed into the Obelisk Blue dorm, but-"

Ryan cut her off. "Let me guess, Crowler didn't like that idea."

"Well, yes," Miss Dorothy smiled. "He insisted you won because of luck, so he thought you belonged in the Slifer Red dorm. However, the Chancellor disagreed, and wanted to put you in Blue."

"So why didn't he?" Ryan couldn't help but ask.

"Well, you see, in order to get into Blue, you have to pass the written and the Dueling exam- which you did, with flying colors I might add- but you must also complete prep school. Those who do go into Obelisk Blue, while the rest slide into Ra Yellow or Slifer Red. ou, good sir, are headed for the Yellow dorm. Wait here while I get some things for you."

"So instead of wearing two of my favorite colors, I get to wear yellow. Fantastic," Ryan muttered as he watched Dorothy walk away. He'd never really liked yellow, though he supposed he'd get used to it. He'd have to.

Dorothy soon came back with a couple Ra Yellow uniforms, a Portable Digital Assistant (PDA), and an Academy-issued Duel Disk with yellow trimmings and buttons. "Here you go!" she sang out as she handed them to him. He thanked her and headed over to the nearest bathroom to change.

Later when everyone was done changing, they all headed into the auditorium. Once there, the giant screen facing end turned on and a man's head appeared. He looked young, late twenties to early thirties, with short black hair. As soon as Ryan saw him, a big smile grew on the new Yellow student's face.

"Hello, and welcome my students! I'm Chancellor Brown, the headmaster here, and you are the best and brightest young Duelists in the world. Now please, get yourselves settled in at your assigned dorms. I think you'll find them quite comfortable; depending upon how well you ranked, of course!" He chuckled and the screen winked out. As the students were rushing out of the auditorium to find their dorms, Ryan caught sight of a familiar face.

He soon caught up with Nick after fighting his way through other kids, realizing for the first time that he stood a head taller than the other boy. "Hey dude, what's up?" He took a closer look at his new friend's face. "Something bothering you?"

Nick blinked, realizing who was talking to him. "It's nothing. Is this place great or what?"

"No kidding," Ryan grinned. He then noticed what Nick was wearing. "So, you're in Yellow, too, huh?" He couldn't miss the swift look of disappointment that swept across Nick's face before he nodded. "Alright, tell me what's bothering you. I can tell you feel bad about something."

Nick opened his mouth to deny it at first, but then reconsidered. "Well, all my friends are in Obelisk Blue. I was the only one not to make it in."

"Were your exam grades not as good as theirs?" Ryan asked, raising an eyebrow. Nick sighed before answering. "No, I had the highest grades out of all of us. It's actually because I'm two years younger than the rest of you guys."

"Well, that explains why you're so short," Ryan laughed, not able to resist. Nick didn't look so amused.

"Hey, you two!" a voice shouted out to them. They turned and saw an older black-haired Yellow student walking towards them. "Are you guys lost or something?"

"I guess you could say that," Nick answered as Ryan managed to control himself. "We just got here… and it seems every other kid has left us behind. Weird, I could have sworn they were just here…"

"The other freshmen? They went off to do whatever. Hey, you two want me to show you around the island? I'll even do it free of charge!" The older student said with a big grin.

"You usually charge for tours?" Ryan asked.

"No, that was actually a joke. I mean, some do, but they're usually upperclassmen. Anyway, want to accept my offer?"

Nick and Ryan looked at each other before both giving a nod. The older Yellow grinned. "Great! The name's Damian, Ra Yellow sophomore. Yours?"

"I'm Nick, and this is Ryan. The guy who beat Crowler." Nick explained with a tiny grin. The two of them shook hands.

"I gotta admit, that was one impressive win," Damian said as he shook Ryan's hand. "I bet you've heard more of this complimentary stuff in the last few hours than any other time in your life."

Ryan sighed. "You know, it was nice at first, but then it wouldn't stop. I've heard enough for a lifetime."

"Well, lemme tell you right now that you're a great Duelist. You better get used to those kinds of words 'cause you're going to be hearing them all through your long career," Damian said seriously. Ryan paused for a moment. Did he really have that much skill? Was he really going to live up to Damian's prediction?

"And me too, right? I'm going to be even better than him, right? Right?" Nick asked, popping up between the two of them. The seriousness suddenly defused as Ryan could help himself from grinning as Damian hastily agreed that, yes, Nick would be a great Duelist (although he never said he was going to be better than Ryan).

"Alright, the welcoming dinner's gonna be soon. So let's get going, shall we?" Damain asked with another grin.

"Welcoming dinner?" Nick asked. Damian grinned yet again. "Basically this big dinner that welcomes you guys to Duel Academy! It's just like it sounds. You guys are smart, you probably already figured that out. Actually, if you had, then why did you ask? Okay, let's go!"

The three of them started to head off. Damian suddenly stopped, facepalming himself. "I'm an idiot! I forgot all about the main building. Well, this-" he gestured to the building behind him "- is where most of the action takes place. This building not only looks pretty cool, but it also is where the classes are, and where everyday business is done. You'll pretty much use this building everyday you're here… And thus ends this rather pointless introduction to the main building. Seriously, I didn't tell you anything you probably don't know already. Again. Alright, now we can start walking."

And the tour continues next chapter! Review, por favor!